Boons

+ATK: Saber’s base 31 Attack is relatively unimpressive; while he can deal a surprising amount of damage thanks to his Golden Dagger, a boon here will still be very helpful.

+SPD: Boosting Saber’s Speed is a strong option as he can potentially boost it high enough to avoid most doubles (mainly if Golden Dagger’s effect is active) as well as naturally double a good number of opponents.

Neutral

DEF: Saber has decent physical bulk, so lowering his Defense is not ideal. However, boosting his Defense isn’t as important as boosting his offensive stats, so it’s best kept neutral if possible.

HP: A -HP bane is not ideal for Saber due to being a superbane (-4 to the stat) as well as impacting both his physical and magical bulk; this is an important consideration for a defensive build as he should be able to handle a wide variety of threats.

Banes

-RES: Resistance is Saber’s lowest stat, and is the clear candidate for a bane. Lowering Saber’s magical bulk isn’t ideal, particularly for a defensive build, but it impacts his effectiveness the least since it’s already his lowest stat. Ultimately there isn’t a massive difference between -RES, -HP, and -DEF since any of them will have an impact on Saber’s defensive capabilities.

Saber’s unique weapon, Golden Dagger, provides almost everything Saber needed to have more of an impact. The stat boosts give a much needed increase to his balanced stats, resulting in him having solid stats across the board. Having access to Distant Counter within the weapon allows Saber to utilize other A skills for more flexibility. The biggest consideration is the conditional prerequisite: it only functions when Saber’s Special is active at the start of combat. Special Spiral has fantastic synergy with this trait, as it will fully recharge Saber’s Special after every combat as long as it’s a 3 cooldown Special (reduced to 2 due to the -1 cooldown function of Golden Dagger). Note that a significant downside of this build is that it’s not fully functional for the very first combat due to Saber not starting with a fully charged Special. Because of this, Saber is at his best when in a team that can provide Infantry Pulse support (or Ostia’s Pulse from Legendary Hector) to charge his Special immediately.

Blue Flame is Saber’s best bet for his Special due to it generally providing the most consistent and highest damage (maintaining the adjacency requirement isn’t particularly hard for an Enemy Phase oriented build like this one). However, Blue Flame is extremely high investment, so Bonfire and Luna are both acceptable alternatives - note that it’s possible for Bonfire and Luna to match Blue Flame’s damage if Saber’s Defense is buffed to at least 50 or if his enemy has at least 50 Defense, respectively.

Fierce Breath is a great choice for Saber’s A skill primarily due to the increased Special charge; this allows him to activate his Special on his first counterattack against a melee opponent even if Golden Dagger isn’t active, and also allows him to activate his Special twice if he gets doubled. The Attack boost from Fierce Breath is very helpful for boosting Saber’s damage output, but it can easily be swapped out for Steady/Warding Breath without hampering Saber’s performance too much. Fort Def/Res is an incredibly potent boost to Saber’s defenses that can help him survive multiple combats. Any Bond skill such as Atk/Spd Bond will work great, particularly if using Blue Flame as Saber will want adjacency regardless. Finally, Fury is acceptable as a budget option, but it will severely hamper Saber’s sustain in combat; he will likely not be able to handle more than one or two combats with it.

For Seals, Quick Riposte is extremely useful as Saber’s Speed isn’t quite high enough to ensure doubles on super speedy opponents. However, if this is not a concern (such as if Saber has access to strong buff support), then it can be replaced with either Atk/Def Bond to simultaneously improve Saber’s damage output and physical bulk, or Darting Stance to somewhat replicate Quick Riposte’s effect by helping Saber double more opponents, with the additional effect of making it much tougher for him to be naturally doubled. Quickened Pulse may be necessary if only one source of Infantry Pulse or Ostia’s Pulse is available, as getting Saber to start with his Special already charged is extremely useful.

Thanks to the big stat boost granted by Golden Dagger’s effect, Saber can now utilize an offensive build fairly effectively. The key to this build is combining the Quickened Pulse Seal and Wrath with a low cooldown Special, Moonbow, in order to keep Saber’s Special active for as long as possible in order to maintain Golden Dagger’s effect.

Atk/Spd Solo is easily one of the best offensive A skills due to giving one of the largest raw stat boosts with no downsides aside from an easy to meet condition. If unavailable, then either Life and Death or Fury are both good choices; the downsides to both Life and Death and Fury can potentially work to Saber’s advantage, as the reduced bulk from Life and Death or post-combat recoil damage from Fury can both help Saber enter Wrath’s HP threshold. Finally, Brazen Atk/Spd is an aggressive option as it’s best utilized alongside either Ardent Sacrifice or Reciprocal Aid in order to manually drop Saber’s HP into Wrath’s HP threshold.

Wrath is a vitally important part of this build, as the -1 Special cooldown each turn while within the HP threshold is what allows Saber to easily recharge his Special without having to enter combat without Golden Dagger’s effect active. The extra damage also helps boost Saber’s damage output considerably. Note that because Wrath’s Special cooldown effect occurs at the start of each player turn, Saber is relatively safe from the effects of Guard and Special Fighter. However, he is also limited in that he likely won’t have his Special charged after the first combat each turn, severely limiting his ability to take on multiple opponents.

For Seals, Quickened Pulse is extremely important in order to ensure that Saber can start out with his Special charged. It can potentially be unneeded if Saber has access to Infantry Pulse/Ostia’s Pulse support (from Legendary Hector); in this case, it can be replaced by a different offensive Seal like Brazen Atk/Res (particularly useful if also running Brazen Atk/Spd as Saber’s A skill along with Ardent Sacrifice/Reciprocal Aid), Atk/Def Bond (make sure not to run this if also using Atk/Spd Solo since they have mutually exclusive activation conditions), or Speed +3.

Golden Dagger’s refined effect has excellent synergy with Saber’s native Shield Pulse skill, as it allows him to start with his Special immediately charged. The main concerns with this setup are having to choose between Aegis/Pavise, as well as the relatively low damage output without an offensive Special. Saber’s lowered damage output can result in leaving many opponents alive after combat, leaving him vulnerable (Wings of Mercy is particularly troublesome).

Choosing between Aegis and Pavise is entirely up to player preference; picking one or the other will result in Saber being highly effective at mitigating damage from the chosen option, while the one not chosen will be deadlier in comparison.

Fierce Breath is excellent since it allows Saber to immediately recharge his Special after a single counterattack so that he can reactivate it if he gets doubled. This effect can also be accomplished with Steady/Warding Breath, but Fierce Breath is notably better due to the extra +4 Attack helping Saber’s relatively low damage output. If none of these are available, then either Distant Def or Close Def can work. Note that because Aegis and Pavise work multiplicatively, increasing Saber’s defenses will only be half as effective whenever Aegis/Pavise activate. This means that Distant Def is more efficient when paired with Pavise and Close Def is more efficient when paired with Aegis. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s not worth stacking defenses; Saber can handily shut down ranged threats with both Aegis and Distant Def, or melee threats with both Pavise and Close Def.

For Seals, Quick Riposte helps considerably with Saber’s low damage output as well as helping him immediately recharge his Special after activating it on an enemy attack in order to maintain Golden Dagger’s effect. Alternatively, either Close Def or Distant Def are acceptable choices for Seals.

Introduction

For quite a while, Saber was a rather unimpressive unit due to his balanced statline and lack of any standout capabilities. However, now they he has a new unique weapon, Golden Dagger, he can now be quite effective thanks to the combination of stat boosts and built-in Distant Counter. The charged Special requirement of Golden Dagger’s effect can be fulfilled via skills like Special Spiral and Wrath, which have the additional benefit of circumventing Guard and Special Fighter due to activating after combat.

Despite Saber’s strong performance with Golden Dagger active, his biggest problem is initially obtaining and then maintaining the effect. Special Spiral builds have no way of starting out with a charged Special outside of Infantry Pulse/Ostia’s Pulse support from the team. Wrath builds don’t necessarily require team support, but struggles to be as consistent as other sword users like Ayra or Karla due to Saber’s effectiveness dropping quite a bit whenever his Special isn’t charged at the start of combat; this means that he’s generally only effective for one combat per turn with a Wrath setup.

However, Saber’s performance with Golden Dagger active is good enough that it mostly outweighs the negatives of maintaining it. One major point about Saber is that his playstyle is rather distinct and unique compared to most other sword infantry, particularly because of his good bulk. Overall, Saber is a fantastic addition to most teams, particularly if those teams are capable of giving him the support he needs to shine.

Strengths

Golden Dagger

Refining Saber’s unique weapon results in an incredibly potent version of a Slaying Edge; not only does it provide a massive boost to Saber’s stats, but it also provides built-in Distant Counter, allowing Saber to combine other A skills with Distant Counter. The charged Special requirement can be a bit dicey to play around, but can be circumvented fairly easily with the right skills.

Decent Bulk

Saber has good bulk - 72 physical and 62 magical. This gets even better once accounting for his Golden Dagger’s effect of boosting all his stats, allowing him to function as a decent tank or simply have good survivability.

Infantry

As an infantry unit, Saber can benefit from infantry-exclusive support skills like Infantry Pulse and Infantry Rush. Infantry Pulse can be particularly important for Saber due to his reliance on having his Special charged as a result of Golden Dagger’s effect.

Weaknesses

Requires Heavy Investment

While Saber can manage just fine with a budget setup, he really shines once he’s given premium skills like Special Spiral, Fierce Breath, or Wrath. This can make it rather difficult for Saber to shine if these skills aren’t readily available.

Outclassed

While Saber’s Golden Dagger has a very powerful effect once refined, he is still arguably outclassed by fellow sword user Owain, Ayra, and Karla. While Saber’s stats are stronger than Owain’s when his Golden Dagger effect is active, Owain has the benefit of not being constrained by the necessity of maintaining a charged Special, resulting in him having significantly more versatility. Saber can mimic Ayra and Karla’s playstyle with a Wrath build, but he suffers both from much lower consistency as well as lower overall damage output.

Counters

Strong Blues: Saber is still susceptible to the color triangle despite his strengths, making units like Reinhardt, Legendary Tiki (Young), and Brave Hector strong counters.

Witchy Wand: Guard and Special Fighter aren’t particularly effective at shutting down Saber’s ability to recharge his own Specials due to him having access to skills like Special Spiral and Wrath that can recharge them outside of combat, but healers with Witchy Wand like Halloween Mia, Mirabelle, and Mikoto can completely shut Saber down due to also stopping Special Spiral and Wrath.

Heavy Nukes: While Saber can get his Speed pretty high thanks to his Golden Dagger, he struggles to handle enemies that can double regardless of Speed like Ephraim, Halloween Niles, Legendary Ephraim, and Effie. (Saber could use Null Followup to prevent this, but this would severely hamper his effectiveness outside of lots of team support)

This build is a filler until Golden Dagger is available for build submission. Thus it will be explained as though it is using Golden Dagger (Eff) instead.

Saber has the unique ability to run both a slaying edge and distant counter while leaving his A slot open, though only under certain conditions. It also grants a much needed boost to his mediocre stats, especially offensively. With the given nature, Saber achieves a MUCH better spread of 40/34/39/35/22 under the effects of his golden dagger. While still not on par with the likes of Ayra or Karla offensively, his superior bulk makes up for the difference. This set allows him to be entirely self sufficient, granting him distant counter from turn 1, as well as an unreal stat spread of 170- on par with probably the majority of armor units (at least pre-holiday 2017).

Reposition is chosen as the assist skill of choice so as to allow Saber to move an ally out of enemy range. Conversely, swap is another potential option that allows him to more effectively put himself into enemy range, while also moving an ally into a safe position. The choice is really up to personal preference.

The “Moonbow/any two turn special + a slaying weapon + Quickened pulse” combo is known for allowing instant special activation. For Saber, this means that he also gets his boosted stat total + distant counter from turn 1, allowing him to bate enemy ranged units instantaneously. Glimmer is another option, however given Saber’s attack is fairly average, moonbow is probably the better option as it grants more wallbreaking power. Another option is running a 3 turn special like Luna or Blue Flame. This requires some support, however it can be the more reliable option. Bonfire is another option that works well given Saber’s high defense. It is more consistent than Blue Flame, however it also offers less burst damage potential. The choice of a 2 turn vs a 3 turn special will be explained a bit more later, as its not so self explanitory.

One thing that saber has on the likes of Ayra and Karla is access to an A slot skill. Kestrel stance is typically the skill of choice as it grants him some much desired speed and attack, however steady posture is another option that works particularly well if running bonfire. Another option, especially if running Blue Flame, is running a bond skill, particularly Atk/Spd or Spd/Def bond. Bonfire or luna should probably be run over blue flame if using a stance skill.

Wrath is the skill of choice for Saber’s B slot if running a 2 turn special. It allows for some remarkably quick burst damage. Special spiral, however, should be run if opting for a 3 turn special instead. The difference in reliability stems from the activation reqs for wrath vs special spiral. Wrath, while also granting +10 damage on activation, only grants the special charge at the start of the turn. This means that Saber only gets the bonus for the first engagement of the turn. After that he will be left to his mediocre stats and lack of distant counter. Special spiral, on the other hand, only requires that his special procs during or before the last engagement. As he intends to activate his special on every engagement, this is not that difficult to achieve. This allows him to engage in combat multiple times per turn and constantly have his weapon’s effect active. As far as damage goes, moonbow + wrath will outdamage luna as long as the enemy has less than 50 defense. Both work however, and it ultimately comes down to preference and access.

Even/Odd Spd wave are chosen for his C slot, as it allows him to boost his own speed to truly impressive levels with his weapon active, especially with a speed boosting A skill: with kestrel stance, he can reach 49 speed, without merges or a speed boosting Seal. This also improves his matchup against Karla, as it renders her weapon pretty much just a slaying edge. Odd Spd wave could be potentially the better of the two actually, as most Ayras and Karlas will run even spd wave, meaning that Saber will be able to double them on odd numbered turns.

Saber’s Seal choice comes down to several factors. QP, as mentioned, allows him to have moonbow immediately active. Distant Defense is another solid option to increase his bulk against ranged foes, especially mages. Brazen Atk/Res is anonther option that works especially well in tandem with Wrath.

Returning to the subject of whether to use the 3 turn variant or the 2 turn variant, as discussed, the 2 turn variant is more self-sufficient, however less consistent. The biggest issue with the 3 turn variant is turn 1 performance. This can be circumvented with team support, such as infantry Pulse/Ostian Pulse, and if sufficient support is available it is perhaps the better option as it allows for multiple engagements per turn. This allows for Saber to potentially beat multiple members of the enemy team in a single turn. It also allows for Saber to have greater player phase presence while keeping his special ready for the enemy phase. This is crucial to maintain his weapon’s effect active so as not to compromise his impressive enemy phase potential.

This build focuses on Saber's good all around stats. A speed boon allows him to not get doubled too much by common Arena units. On enemy phase he can quickly proc Ignis and can secure a kill against most units. His B Passive is very flexible. He can run Quick Riposte or Renewal. Quick Riposte ensures a double attack on enemy phase, and combine this with his Ignis he is a very dangerous unit to confront. Renewal helps him restore his loss HP and continue fighting without being too afraid of getting ORKOed.

Saber is an odd unit, possessing neutral bulk of 40/32/22 (35/19 with given IVs) while having probably the most defensive skill set in the game, giving him a balanced but odd type of bulk, especially being the only original wielder of Shield Pulse 3. As a result, this build exists as a means to take advantage of Saber's otherwise unusual bulk at the expense of his already mediocre offense.

Saber has the unique niche in his base kit of being able to tank Reinhardt and Brave Lyn due to Aegis Shield Pulse combo, and the Deflect Magic 3 seal greatly reducing Reinhardt's damage, allowing Saber to survive. Panic Ploy is easy to proc on ranged attackers with 39 HP trigger, making taking on them easier, and Earth Boost works similarly to give him more defense against Brave Lyn. There is one caveat to this, in that Saber will only lose to Brave Lyn if she is buffed with Hone Cavalry, has +Atk and runs Brave Bow with Life and Death instead of Swift Sparrow, however this is very niche given most will run Lyn with her default Swift Sparrow, but this should be considered nevertheless. Additionally, the aforementioned Panic Ploy will serve as a countermeasure, making it a still manageable situation.

Distant Defense and Steady Stance can be run instead of Earth Boost to give Saber more defense, but will simply give the same results, and Earth Boost is much cheaper to obtain. Saber's Support Skill is flexible, but his kit is otherwise very rigid for this niche.

Weapon refinery doesn't do too much for Saber given his odd bag of stats, though a flat increase to his weapon's MT will at least boost his bulk and give him some semblance of offense.

Golden Dagger (+Eff)Accelerates Special trigger (cooldown count-1).
At start of combat, if Special is ready, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+3 during combat and unit can counterattack regardless of foe's range.